Sunday, June 19, 2011

Doctors have warned that type 2 diabetes is becoming Asia's "new epidemic," affecting about 89 million people across the region, with the vast majority of cases undiagnosed. They say an increasingly fatty diet combined with a more-sedentary lifestyle has created the ideal breeding ground for the disease. But around two-thirds of sufferers are not even aware they have the condition.

"We're sitting on probably one of the largest epidemics in history," Professor Paul Zimmet, emeritus director of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program.

Separate studies in Thailand and China have turned up similar findings.

The figures are only likely to get worse: The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 300 million people will have type 2 diabetes by 2025, and more than 60 per cent of them will live in Asia.

"Many Asian countries don't have the resources not only to diagnose but also to treat people with diabetes," said Professor Zimmet. While diabetes is usually detected through a blood or a glucose-tolerance test, those tests are too expensive for many people in Asia.